Provident Fund transfers to be automated in FY20

New Delhi, Mar 11: Subscribers of retirement fund body Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) would not be required to file EPF transfer claims on changing jobs from the next fiscal as the process would be automated, according to a labour ministry official.
At present, the subscribers are required to file forms for transfer of EPF claims on changing jobs, despite having a universal account number (UAN). The EPFO gets about eight lakh such transfer claims every year.
“The EPFO is testing automation of EPF transfer on changing jobs on a pilot basis. The facility for all subscribers is expected to be launched any time next year,” a senior labour ministry official said.
The official added, “The EPFO had engaged C-DAC to study its operating systems to achieve the goal of becoming a paperless organisation. At present, 80% of the work is being done online. The automated transfer of EPF on changing jobs is one of the tools to be used to achieve that objective.”
The ministry official explained that the moment the new employer would file the monthly EPF return, including the UAN of the new employee, the EPF contributions and interest earned on that would be automatically transferred. This will enable the employee to get the credits of his EPF contribution during his previous tenure with the old employer into his or her UAN automatically.